(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector structure of a motor vehicle door, which is applied to a rear door or sliding door of a motor vehicle.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various auxiliary machines or electric components such as a rear wiper, door lock, tail lamp, defroster, back monitor and power window are mounted in a motor vehicle door such as a rear door or sliding door. Various connector structures, each of which supplies an electric power of the vehicle body-side, have been proposed.
FIG. 5 illustrates a connector structure of a motor vehicle door described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-62546 proposed by the present applicant as an example of the prior art in connection with this kind of connector structure of a motor vehicle door.
A vehicle body-side connector 53 includes a housing 71 made of insulating (electrically insulating) resin and a plurality of female terminals 65 received in the housing 71 in parallel closely to each other. The housing 71 consists of an upper cover (not shown) and a lower cover (not shown).
The housing 71 has openings 77 situated in parallel to each other for receiving a male terminal 55. Each female terminal 65 is received in a corresponding opening 77. The opening 77 is closed by a shutter 75 made of synthetic resin mounted to an end of the female terminal 65. The housing 71 is fixed to a vehicle body by an inclined-shape flange (not shown).
The female terminal 65 is inserted over a cylinder shaft (support shaft) 76 made of metal with being opened and closed, and biased to the closing direction by a twisted coil spring (spring member) 72 around the cylinder shaft 76. The twisted coil spring 72 consists of a coil roll 73 and a leg 74 extending backward long from the coil roll 73.
Each contact member 63 of the female terminal 65 includes a flat plate-shaped hinge 64, a side plate (a part to receive a bias) 66 rising perpendicularly from the hinge 64, an inclined part 67 being inclined forward from the side plate 66, and a contact 68 continuing to the inclined part 67.
A pair of the hinges 64 is piled up each other and pressed onto an electrode (not shown) at the housing 71-side by the coil roll 73 of the twisted coil spring 72. The twisted coil spring 72 biases the contact 68 and biases the hinge 64 with respect to the electrode simultaneously. The electrode is connected to a power supply wire (not shown) through a terminal in a female connector (not shown) for connecting the power supply.
A shutter 75 is fixed to an end of each female terminal 65 and opens or closes together with the contact 68. The shutter 75 includes an end surface 75a having narrow width, a guide surface 75b inclining inward with a tapered-shape from the end surface 75a, and closing surface 75c adhering at the inside end of the guide surface 75b. A pair of the closing surfaces 75c comes in close contact with each other when both contacts 68 come in contact with each other, thereby a water drop or a dust is prevented from entering into the contact 68 from the opening 77 of the housing 71.
A connector 52 at the door-side includes a housing 58 made of insulating resin, a male terminal 55 biased by a spring in the protruding direction in the housing 58, and a cushion 61 made of rubber for the connector at the vehicle-body side, which is arranged outside the electric contact 54 of the male terminal 55.
A projection (not shown) for receiving a spring and a notch (not shown) for inserting the spring are formed at a base end-side of the electric contact 54 of the male terminal 55. A compression coil spring 60 is provided between the projection for receiving the spring at the base end-side of the electric contact 54 and a projection 59 for receiving a spring of the cover 56. The strength of the compression coil spring 60 is set larger than the insertion force of the electric contact 54 against the female terminal 65. The electric contact 54 retreats inward with compressing the compression coil spring 60 in the event that the electric contact 54 receives an accidental external force.
FIG. 6 is a circuit view illustrating the engaging state of the connector. The vehicle body-side has a battery (not shown) for supplying the power. The battery supplies the power to various electric components. Switches S1, S2 and electromagnetic relays R1, R2 are provided between the battery and the various electric components, thereby the on/off operation for the various electric components is carried out.
The switches S1, S2 are a lock-up switch, in which the state of the contact is maintained once the operation is done as long as the inverse operation is not done. The switch S1 is a switch for a defroster while the switch S2 is a switch for a courtesy lamp cooperating with the open/close action of the motor vehicle door. The courtesy lamp (not shown) turns on when the motor vehicle door is open while it turns off when the door is close.
As for the electromagnetic relays R1 and R2, each of them includes an electromagnetic coil rc1 or rc2 and a contact rs1 or rs2, respectively. The contact rs1 is a make contact (a contact to be closed upon excitation of the electromagnetic coil rc1) while the contact rs2 is a break contact (a contact to be opened upon excitation of the electromagnetic coil rc2).
However, as for the conventional connector structure of a motor vehicle door as described above, there are problems as mentioned below.
One problem is that a space for mounting the electric components cannot be secured when many switches and so on are mounted in a vehicle body space. That is, in a background that the number of the electric components to be mounted in a rear door or sliding door of a one-box car or station wagon tends to increase, if the number of the switches S1 and S2 increases, a space for mounting the electric components cannot be secured, resulting in that not only the electric components cannot be mounted but also there is a possibility that the interference among the components or the entanglement of the electric wires take place.
Another problem is that the cost of the component inevitably raises if the number of the switches S1 and S2 increases in a ground that the number of the electric components to be mounted on the vehicle body increases.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a connector structure of a motor vehicle door, by which a space for mounting electric components and so on can be secured in a space in a vehicle body and the cost of the electric component can be reduced by making a connector have multifunction.
In order to attain the above objective, the present invention is to provide a connector structure of a motor vehicle door comprising:
a first female terminal forming a break contact, which is provided in one connector selected between a first connector at a vehicle body-side and a second connector at a door-side; and
an insulating member, which is provided in the other connector selected between the first connector at the vehicle body-side and the second connector at the door-side,
wherein the insulating member is inserted into the first female terminal when the first and second connectors engage with each other, so that an electric circuit is cut.
With the construction described above, since the first female terminal forming a break contact (b-contact) is provided in one connector selected between the first connector at a vehicle body-side and the second connector at a door-side, the first female terminal forms a close circuit when the first and second connectors do not engage with each other, thereby supplying a power to an electric component such as a courtesy lamp, while the insulating member is inserted into the female terminal so as to cut the electric circuit when the first and second connectors engage with each other. That is, by the engagement or disengagement of both first and second connectors, a switching of the courtesy lamp cooperating with the open/close action of the door can be carried out, thereby both connectors can carry out a similar function as that of a courtesy lamp switch. Therefore, a space for mounting the electric components can be secured by omitting the courtesy lamp switch and the cost of the electric component can be reduced by making the connector have multifunction.
Preferably, the connector structure of a motor vehicle door further comprises:
a second female terminal forming a make contact, which is provided next to the first female terminal; and
a male terminal forming a break terminal coming in contact with the second female terminal, which is provided next to the insulating member.
With the construction described above, since a plurality of male terminals facing with a plurality of second female terminals that forms a make contact (a-contact) are provided, the male terminal comes in contact with the second female terminal when both connectors engage with each other, thereby a closed electric circuit is formed and a power can be supplied from the vehicle body-side to the electric components at the door-side. The break contacts, the number of which is equal to that of the male terminals, can be formed. Therefore, a connection structure between the electric circuit at the vehicle body-side and that at the door-side can be integrated into the connector and the cost of the electric component can be reduced by making the connector have multifunction.
Preferably, the first female terminal includes a pair of contact members.
With the construction described above, by biasing one side end of the contact member using an elastic member or the like, a female terminal that can be opened or closed is formed, thereby the insulation member is allowed to enter into the female terminal when both connectors engage with each other so as to cut the electric circuit.
Therefore, a return-type switch having a break contact can be integrally formed in the connector, thereby a space for mounting the electric components can be secured by omitting a switch at the vehicle body-side.
Preferably, a first contact coming in contact with the insulating member is provided at one side of each of the pair of contact members while a second contact coming in contact with an electrode that continues to the electric circuit is provided at the other side, and each said first contact comes in contact with the other first contact receiving an inward bias by an elastic member while each said second contact is pressed onto the electrode receiving an outward bias by the elastic member.
With the construction described above, each first contact can electrically comes in contact with the other first contact while each second contact can come in contact with the corresponding electrode, thereby a female terminal having a break contact can be formed.
Therefore, the reliability of the electric contact of the female terminal that forms a closed electric circuit can be improved.
Preferably, one contact member of the pair of contact members is connected to an electromagnetic coil forming an electromagnetic relay through the electrode while the other contact member is grounded to a motor vehicle body through the electrode.
With the construction described above, when the both connectors do not engage with each other, that is, when the door is open, the female terminal forms a closed electric circuit to allow the electric power to be conducted, thereby the power can be supplied to the electric component such as a courtesy lamp and so on.
On the other hand, when the door is closed, the female terminal forms an open circuit not to allow the electric power to be conducted.
Consequently, the female terminal having a break contact can function as a courtesy lamp switch and a space for mounting the electric components can be secured by omitting a conventional courtesy lamp switch.
Preferably, a projecting length of the insulating member is smaller than that of the male terminal.
With the construction described above, even when the first connector at the vehicle body-side and the second connector at the door-side halfway engage with each other, that is, even when the door is incompletely closed, the closed electric circuit by the female terminal is not cut by the insulating member, thereby the detection of an incomplete door-closing can be carried out.
Therefore, the connector that has a function as a courtesy lamp switch can also has a function to detect the halfway opened door.